Common Ground
by EnigmaticMind2016
Summary: Its a well known fact that Manny is hands down the most protective dad in the Ice Age. Just ask his daughters. BuckxKeeva one-sided PeachesxEthan onesided PeachesxJulian


**A/N: Hey guys!** **So, this was a** **request from GZGMKK who wanted to see a bonding moment between Keeva and Peaches when it comes to Manny's helicopter parenting. I hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age. I do own my OCs.**

Common Ground

Keeva was feeling lazy after her early morning hunt. (It was more polite to hunt whilst the others were still sleeping, so she'd taken to pre-dawn and late night hunts). The dark she-wolf had stretched out against a flat slab of rock, sunning, and just generally being lazy.

She was just precious minutes away from falling to sleep when she heard the soft thunder of mammoth feet coming back into camp. Keeva knew it wasn't Ellie, she was off with her brothers doing whatever possum things that they did. Manny had gone off in search of Peaches, who had snuck off again.

That girl made Manny jump through more hoops than Keeva had ever dreamed of. Of course, what more could be expected of a fifteen year old? Let alone one with a Dad as _protective_ as Manny.

Keeva dragged her eyes open as a shadow blocked out the sun. Peaches was standing over her looking irritated, Manny must've found her then.

"Hey." Keeva greeted after the silence turned awkward.

"Um...hi." Peaches hesitated. "Is-is my mom around?"

Keeva eyed the empty space around them, before meeting the teenager's eyes again. "No."

"Great." Peaches visibly deflated. "I really needed to talk to her."

"Well, you could talk to me." Keeva offered and immediately regretted it.

Peaches and Keeva weren't close. Understandably so, seeing as Keeva had been with Buck nearly all of Peaches' life. As a result, the wolf barely knew her...what should she call her? Niece? Sister? Well, whatever. Keeva didn't know the mammoth very well, the only mammal she knew well was Buck.

She had to relearn everyone upon her reunion with the herd, and she had, but she didn't even know where to begin with Peaches, whom she hadn't known _at all._

Guess this was as good a time as any to try.

"Really?" Peaches' blinked. "Are you sure?"

"I mean." Keeva cleared her throat as she sat upright. "I'm not Mom, but I'm a pretty good listener...don't set the bar too high on advice giving though. I'm kind of crazy, if you hadn't heard."

Both girls shared a light giggle.

"Okay...well, it's about Dad." Peaches said as she brushed her bangs aside with her trunk.

Keeva tried not to grin. "Uh huh. Go on."

"He totally embarassed me!" Peaches' wailed. "And then he grounded me for, like, no reason."

"What happened?" Keeva tipped her head inquiringly up at the mammoth.

"Well, it all started yesterday. A few girls from a migrating herd invited down to this place, the Falls?"

Keeva nodded. She'd heard of it, a lot of teenagers liked to hang out there...well, leaf eaters anyway. Manny really would freak if he knew where all the young wolves hung out these days.

"Well, I asked Dad if I could go, and he said no. So, I snuck out."

"Genius." Keeva drawled.

"You're not as good of a listener as you said you were." Peaches huffed and Keeva choked down a laugh. "Sorry."

" _Anyway."_ Peaches rolled her eyes. "I snuck out to meet them..."

 _"Oh, hi girls!" Peaches waved her trunk as she approached her new friends. "Sorry, I'm a little late, my dad was being dramatic."_

 _"Don't you hate it when you're Dad goes all Colnel Clink on you?" A pretty blond mammoth laughed. "So annoying."_

 _"Heh, yeah." Peaches laughed nervously. "Don't worry, my uncles are covering for me. He'll never know I was gone."_

 _"That's awesome!" A brunette chirped. "See you guys? I told you she was alright."_

 _"C'mon, Oeach, let's go." A dark mammoth beckoned her forward. "You're going to love the Falls, it's where_ all _the cute boys hang out."_

"This is a nice story, Peachy, but can we get there? I promised to help Diego tonight, and at the rate you're going..."

"Oh, right. Yeah." Peaches laughed. "I guess you don't need _every_ detail. So, Bethany, Sage, Darcy, and I get there, and they're right. It's awesome! The kids there are _so cool,_ and Darcy wasn't kidding, the boys were _hot."_ Her eyes went gooey soft and Keeva knew she was losing her. "Especially Ethan," Peaches sighed dreamily. "He has the most handsome smile, and his eyes are _phenomenal."_

Keeva actually felt a little heat flood her cheeks. She was not the one to go to for boy advice. She cleared her throat pointedly. "Earth to Peaches." She sang.

"Right, right." Peaches came back down to earth. "Anyway, I was _trying_ to go over and talk to him, but this guy Julian wouldn't leave me alone, and then Dad showed up..."

 _"That's really sweet of you to say." Peaches said, cheeks burning. "But I gotta..."_

 _"Peaches!" Such a sharp tone could only belong to a parent. Why did it have to be hers?_

 _"Dad!" She yelped as her father came down the hill, fuming. "Dad, please, this isn't a big deal."_

 _"Oh, that's where you're wrong, young lady." Manny snapped pointing his trunk at her. "Sneaking out? To come here, after explicitly told you not to, is a_ very _big deal." Finally, Manny noticed Julian standing to the side, watching Peaches with sympathetic eyes. "And you're talking to a boy?" Peaches sword he'd drop dead right there. "You're not old enough to date yet."_

 _"No!" Peaches panicked when she thought Manny assumes she was talking to Julian. "Dad, it's not like that! I wasn't-!"_

 _"I don't want to hear it young lady." Manny cut her off. "Go home to your mother."_

 _It was then that Father and Daughter realized everyone in the valley was looking at them._

 _"Oh snap..."_

 _"Is that her dad?"_

 _"That's so embarrassing..."_

 _Peaches eyes sought out Ethan, who was also watching the scene, looking both empathetic and amused. He shook his head and turned back to his friends. Tears gathered in her eyes and she whirled back on her father. "I hate you!"_

"Is that it?" Keeva asked after a moment's pause.

"What you mean 'is that it?' Keeva that was humiliating! Ethan may never talk to me again..."

"Then that's his problem, but I'll save that conversation for your mom." Ellie would be best at the 'find someone who loves you for you speech', she'd always been best at that sort of thing. "You got off lucky with Manny."

"How was _that_ lucky?" Peaches asked indignantly.

"Please." Keeva scoffed. "You should've seen Manny's face when he figured out I liked Buck."

"The weasel?" The teenager inquired. "What happened?"

"Well, as you know, I was down there _a while,_ before Sid went missing."

"How long?"

"Eh...couple months?" Keeva shrugged "Anyway, Buck and I were in what I'd like to call 'mutual like.'"

"What's that?"

"It's when you like your crush, and they like you back, but nobody's ready to take the relationship to the next level."

"Makes sense. So, Dad didn't take it well?"

"Have you met your dad?" Keeva teased. "No, and here's what happened. We'd all set up camp for the night when Manny decided to confront Buck..."

 _"What are you're intentions with my daughter?"_

 _Keeva's snapped open from her almost sleep as Buck shifted beside her._ _"S'cuse me?"_

 _"Your intentions." Manny pressed. "What are they?"_

 _"Manny." Keeva almost choked as the other herd members looked their way. Ellie in disapproval of Manny's behavior, Diego, Crash, and Eddie, out of curiosity._

 _Buck just kind of stared at him, and Keeva was hoping the ground would open up and swallow her._

 _"S'cuse me?" Buck asked again._

 _Keeva could practically see the veins in Manny's neck popping, and hoped the mammoth didn't explode before all of this was over. Meanwhile, she decided to bury her face in her paws, Better than watching Manny wrecking the only almost-relationship she ever had._

 _"Do you love my daughter?"_

 _Oh god. Keeva tried not to tense, or bolt._

 _"'Course I do!" Buck actually sounded offended that Manny needed to ask such a question. Keeva stopped breathing. He loved her?_

 _"Keeva, do you love him?" The she-wolf worked her jaw soundlessly. Seriously? He just wanted her to come out with it? Right here? As she looked at Buck, and then back at Manny, she was afraid she might faint. "Yes." She managed finally. "Yes, I love him."_

 _"Aww." Ellie cooed from the sidelines. Keeva's blush deepened._

 _"And you plan to marry her?" Manny grilled Buck again, and the mammal actually squirmed a little. "If she wants me."_

 _Manny's eyes locked with hers again. "Oh, for Pete's sake..." she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Buck to hear. "Yeah, one day. Not now."_

 _"And you'll do whatever you have to to protect her?" Back to Buck._

 _Forget offended, the weasel looked both hurt and angered by the question. "Are you crazy?" Heck of a question, coming from Mr. Crazy himself. "I love Keeva, and I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. I would be happy to take her as my mate, when she's ready for me, and should we be blessed with children one day, I will love and protect them as well. Does that answer all of your questions?"_

 _"It does." Ellie spoke up._

"Wow..." Peaches' eyes were wide. "You win..."

"Told you." Keeva grinned as she stretched back out on the rock. "The second child always gets it easier than the first."

"Yeah , I guess so." Peaches agreed. "Hey, that kind of makes us sisters, doesn't it? Since my parents raised you too."

"I guess it kind of does." Keeva smiled. This conversation had gone way better than she thought it would.

"This is so awesome!" Peaches trumpeted. "Now we can tell each other secrets, talk about boys, talk about _Dad_ and his overprotective ness, and..."

Keeva laid her head down, listening patiently, and somewhat selectively.

Teenagers.

 **A/N: It's finally finished, oh my gosh! You have no idea how big of a pain this thing has been, like the bane of my existence terrible. Ah, but it's finally done, and I hope you all enjoy it.**

 **Now, this is the part where I become a jerk for about the rest of the A/N.**

 **Now, I love all of you, my lovely reviewers, and I love hearing from you. It makes my day it really does. And as a whole, you don't generally rush me to get things done, which I really apreciate. So, if you don't rush me, this message does not apply to you, and you can jump out now. (Please note that telling me you're excited or that you can't wait for the next chapter is _not_ rushing me). **

**I will _not_ tolerate being rushed on my work, be it a one-shot, or a chapter, or whatever. It hits the site when I'm ready for it too and not a moment before. **

**My work is important to me, and so is its quality, that's why I don't post every day, I want to make sure you're reading my _best_ work and that the canon characters I write for are all in character. This requires some patience on the reader's end, and lots of lost sleep on mine. **

**The next chapter for A Wolf's Cry will be posted when I get it done. Thank you.**

 **See you next time!**


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